Study on the Pragmatic Value of English Intentional Ambiguity

Ambiguity is a common linguistic phenomenon and has attracted the attention of experts and scholars. From the communicative effect, ambiguity can be divided into intentional ambiguity and unintentional ambiguity. Unintentional ambiguity belongs to pragmatic failure, which influences the normal communication and need be disambiguated. However, Intentional ambiguity is a communication strategy for some particular communication purposes, which needn't be disambiguated and has a certain pragmatic value. The paper focuses on the positive use of intentional ambiguity in advertising, literary works, daily life, political speeches, etc.